Author's archive
The Lake Effect, Name Gamers Dept. 0
The Ring of Fire’s Josh Gay discusses the adsurdity of Trump’s order to rename Lake Ontario.
The Me Veneration 0
At the Kansas City Star, Fred Wellman points out that there is a dark side to Donald Trump’s me veneration. A snippet:
That should alarm every American, including those who consider themselves conservative.
(snip:
We do not have kings. We do not pledge ourselves to rulers. Public officials are not supposed to ask whether citizens “remain loyal” to the person occupying the White House. The government exists to serve the people under laws that constrain the people who wield its power.
Culture Wars and Mongers of Culture Wars 0
It never occurred to me that, in the eyes of the Trump maladministration, bike lines are somehow “woke.”
Recommended Viewing 0
On Tubi, I stumbled over a Looney Tunes series.
I’ve always enjoyed the Warner Brothers cartoons, and I think that Bugs Bunny is maybe one of the greatest cartoon characters of all time. I remember watching the Bugs Bunny Show when I was a young ‘un. I can still hear the theme song in my head.
But the reason I mention this series is this: In the later seasons (there are 13 seasons in the collection), they show older cartoons, many of them black and white, from the late 1930s and early 1940s. In them, you can see the characters that later became the Bugs, Elmer, Daffy, and Sylvester that we know in their earlier incarnations.
In some cases, it’s rather disconcerting.
A Tune for the Times 0
From the Youtube page:
This song treats the Trump shenanigans in recent days as he has escalated a trade war with Canada and – when faced with defiance and the threat of counter tariffs – indulged in petty statements and pathetic acts such as sanctimoniously renaming Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’. We have been inundated with requests from Canadian followers for something on this topic (including plenty of suggested lyrics and songs) – but we’ve stuck to our own model and selection, which we nearly always do. We wanted to use an iconic Canadian musician for the parody, and opted for the cutting tongue and clean spiky sound of Alanis Morissette – whose show Danielle loved seeing live in London recently. “Jagged Little Pill” was one of our favourite albums – coming out in 1995 when we first met at uni – and “Ironic” (co-written and produced by Glen Ballard) topped the Canadian chart for six weeks when released, thanks in part to a memorable music video that showcased different characters/versions of her.
Hoist on His Own Petard 0
Veteran journalist John Young seems to think that Donald Trump’s war of choice on Iran may not be going quite as Trump expected.
Here’s a bit from his article; follow the link for context.
By March: “I think we won.”
Come April: “A whole civilization will die tonight.” (Fortunately for civilization, TACO was cheap.)
In June: “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable.”
Vaccine Nation 0
David discusses RFK Jr.’s role–and, by extension, the Trump maladministration’s role–in the growth of measles in the U. S. And, remember, measle was declared eradicated in the United States a quarter century ago.
I was a young ‘un before measles vaccines. I had both kinds of measles. They ain’t fun, my friends.
Also, one of my earliest memories is of my parents both in bed with the mumps, which is much more serious for adults than children. I was very young and the memory is just a snapshot affixed in my mind, but it’s a memory I would not wish on anyone else.
That we are currently ruled by and surrounded with persons too stupid to accept proven science–and, remember, science is all about proof–is, er, most disquieting.
And don’t get me started on “social” media’s role in incubating epidemics.
A Man of His Word 0
Via the Las Vegas Sun, Kimball Shinkoskey points out that Donald Trump has kept at least one promise since reentering office:
Follow the link for his reasons for saying that.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A serial infringer? Axios reports that “(s)ome of the world’s largest music publishers filed a blockbuster lawsuit against Anthropic late Friday night, alleging ‘one of the largest and most blatant ongoing thefts of intellectual property in history.'”
Details at the link.
A Common Factor 0
At the Psychology Today website, Jer Clifton reports on research that shows that “one primal world belief was uniquely related to violence (sic) extremism.”
Follow the link for more.
Russian Impulses 0
Some timely verses from the Parody Project.
The Name Gamers 0
I can think of one reason why the Trump maladministration would consider doing this, and it ain’t pretty.
Nor surprising.
Read the article, then come back for my theory.
This New Gilded Age 0
Thom talks with Gil Duran, author of The New York Times best-selling book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy. about how tech billionaires have become tne Robber Barons of this new gilded age.
Republican Family Values 0
It should come as no surprise to learn that they are a (not at all) surprisingly flexible thing when Republicans find them inconvient.